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In the age of short attention spans and mass media hopping from one story to the next, it is fairly remarkable that the shooting death of Trayvon Martin one year ago Tuesday continues to resonate among the consciousness of many Americans.

When Thurgood Marshall retired from the U.S. Supreme Court in June 1991, a reporter asked him what were the medical reasons that contributed to his leaving the bench -- and its lifetime appointment -- after serving for nearly 25 years. He was his usual blunt self.

For more than a year I've tried to get Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to make an appearance on my Sunday morning news show on TV One, the nation's second-largest black cable network.

At 9:40 a.m. on December 14, America's attention was turned to Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were gunned down in an elementary school. The nation was grief-stricken. President Barack Obama arrived two days later operating as consoler-in-chief, and the dialogue immediately commenced on what steps should be taken to prevent another Newtown.

A number of establishment Republicans are privately blasting former Rep. J.C. Watts and his comments about considering a run for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee. They call him arrogant for even suggesting he could do the job, and some have said the talk is more about his ego than a vision for the party.

Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte really want us to believe that their shameful behavior toward United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice is all about getting to the truth about what happened in Libya, but the truth is that this is the first salvo in a GOP war against President Barack Obama over the next four years.

A story this week by the Associated Press has caused quite a stir, especially among African-Americans, when multiple news outlets ran it with the attention-grabbing headline, "Some black pastors are telling their flocks to stay home Election Day."

When basketball legend Michael Jordan talked to the press after a Chicago Bulls or Washington Wizards game, fans never got to see the superstar with sweat dripping from his brow or a towel wrapped around his waist after emerging from the shower.

When Spanish-language network Univision blasted the Commission on Presidential Debates for its glaring lack of ethnic diversity among the four presidential and vice presidential debate moderators, champions of diversity applauded the network's willingness to challenge the status quo.

The campaigns of President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney are engaged in a fierce battle in Ohio, knowing full well that it is one of the critical battleground states that could determine who wins in November.

Yahoo announced this week that it nabbed top Google exec Marissa Mayer as their new CEO. But it's not her qualifications for the job that were all the buzz. Instead, it was her announcement that she was pregnant and will continue to work as CEO.

After years and years of over-the-top stories attesting to the character, honor, integrity and moral fiber of the late Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, we now know, after reading the 267-page Penn State internal report on child predator Jerry Sandusky, that Paterno was nothing more than a narcissistic, arrogant coward.

Whenever someone has lived a solid and productive life, the pastor at his or her funeral may turn to Matthew 25:21 to offer a few words the good Lord may utter as the person's spirit ascends to heaven: "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Acura found itself in a bit of hot water this week when it was revealed that a casting agency in Los Angeles only desired light-skinned African-American actors for the company's Super Bowl commercial featuring Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld.

For everyone who has condemned the numerous protests, rallies and vigils demanding justice for Trayvon Benjamin Martin, the 17-year-old gunned down in Sanford, Florida, a month ago, please listen to these two words: Shut up!

In November 2010, I watched "HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" and saw a piece on the hazing antics at several historically black colleges and fraternities. I took to Twitter to share my thoughts on the issue.

For all of our talk of Americans being straight shooters who don't like to mince words and have the freedom of speech to say exactly what's on our minds, we sure punk out when it comes to elected officials speaking the truth.

All of the post-mortems on the CNBC Republican debate have focused on the sad, but hilarious, senior moment Gov. Rick Perry suffered when he couldn't remember the third federal agency he wants to eliminate.

Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain has vaulted to the top of the Republican presidential field because GOP voters like his plainspoken talk and his willingness to offer a radical change to the U.S. tax code, and in a year when touting a long career in politics isn't a good idea, he's getting points for having no political experience.

Whenever there is an uprising among the people of this country in the form of protests and organized dissent, especially with a presidential election 13 months away, the discussion inevitably shifts to what it will mean for one of the nation's two political parties.

"An unconditional right to say what one pleases about public affairs is what I consider to be the minimum guarantee of the First Amendment." -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan, 1964

When the U.S. Census Bureau reported last week that a record number of people were living in poverty, Republicans were quick to attach the figures to President Barack Obama, desperately trying to lay them at his feet.

While the media's political high priests have been going gaga about Rep. Michele Bachmann's lying about the effects of the HPV vaccine, and Gov. Rick Perry's cozy role with pharmaceutical giant, Merck, the biggest issue coming out the CNN/Tea Party Express debate has been virtually ignored.

When President Barack Obama was a community organizer in Chicago and the powers that be were ignoring the voice of the people, he and others would lead the regular folks to the streets to show their dissatisfaction with the status quo.

It's only fitting that during the week we were to dedicate the memorial in Washington to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., an earthquake would hit the region and the entire East Coast would be bracing itself for a hurricane.

When someone sends me an outlandish, ridiculous, asinine and flat-out dumb tweet, I will quickly give them a Stuck on Stupid Tweet of the Day award. So when it comes to those folks who are whining, complaining and making hay out of President Barack Obama taking a week off to go on vacation with his wife and children in Martha's Vineyard, let me be clear that all of you fools have earned that award!

While a lot of the focus after Thursday's Republican debate was on Newt Gingrich snapping at Fox News Channel's Chris Wallace for asking "gotcha" and "Mickey Mouse" questions, what I found the most offensive one of the night was Byron York questioning Rep. Michelle Bachmann with regards to submission.

When Congressional Republicans, egged on by the boisterous voices of the tea party, vigorously objected to President Barack Obama signing a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia in December, GOP stalwarts were called in to explain why it was necessary to support the effort.

While President Barack Obama battles with Republicans and Democrats over raising the debt ceiling, Americans should be preparing themselves to take on the shady special interests and the members of Congress who carry their water in their effort to scuttle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Watching Republicans and Democrats squabble from their ideological battle lines over the debt ceiling is the same as watching a bratty child fall out in the middle of the floor with a temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way.

Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds were long considered first ballot Hall of Famers, but the steroids scandal that has dominated baseball since the '90s has destroyed their reputations and could very well keep them out of Cooperstown.

Sports and politics have always mixed. We've had former athletes hold elective office; mayors, members of Congress and governors are always making bets with one another when their teams play each other in big games; and it's great to see the respective national champions or winners in pro sports visit the White House for a congratulatory pat on the back from the president of the United States.

Whenever there is an issue dealing with race, misogyny, sexual orientation or some other hot-button issue, we often hear the cry that we need to have a national discussion about it, whether in the media, in our homes or in our churches.

There's nothing like causing a huge stir on Facebook and Twitter with 140 characters, but that certainly was the case Thursday when I took to social media to show my disdain for celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

When then-Sen. Barack Obama gave the speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention that thrust him into stardom, he made it clear that it was time to shed the red state-blue state nonsense and embrace the concept that "We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

The feud between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and that state's employees has all of a sudden become ground zero in the battle between efforts by the GOP to shut down unions as they exist, and those same union workers desperate to hold on to long-fought-for wages and benefits.

If Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler isn't as accommodating the next time a fan walks up to him for an autograph, don't blame him. When you suffer a knee injury in the NFC championship game and you're treated like you cheated on your wife or turned over top-secret military documents to Osama bin Laden, then you might be a bit hesitant as well.

If you lived in a crime-ridden neighborhood where your home was broken into a dozen times and the school your children were zoned to was low-performing, wouldn't you take drastic measures to ensure they got a quality education?

The conventional wisdom in the wake of the emotional and impressive memorial service for those killed in Tucson at the hands of a deranged gunman is that despite pleas for civility, we will return to the pre-shooting days of yelling, screaming and highly-charged partisanship.

One of the reasons Defense Secretary Robert Gates commissioned a study on how the military feels about gays serving openly was because it was ridiculous to listen to politicians rambling on and on, and not to those who have to do the heavy lifting.

It's clear that we can't go 24 hours without Sarah Palin saying something so stupid that it defies logic, but leave it to the Kim Kardashian of politics to find something wrong with first lady Michelle Obama's effort to curb obesity in America's kids.

As a second-generation caterer, I would ordinarily be peacock proud and hyena happy about the prospects of anyone getting married. Yet when I saw the obese coverage around the wedding announcement of Britain's Prince William and his fiancée, Kate Middleton, I felt it was sickening to watch.

The day after Republicans trounced Democrats in congressional, gubernatorial and statehouse races, one of my CNN colleagues asked The Best Political Team on Television what's the first thing President Obama should focus on.

The election results on Tuesday are a bitter pill for the president and his supporters to swallow. To be essentially routed by the Republican Party from top to bottom goes beyond humbling. It is a wholesale rejection of the Democratic Party, and by extension, many of the policies championed by President Obama.

So let me get this straight: Rep. Kendrick Meek was the first candidate to declare that he would run for the U.S. Senate in Florida, faced down a billionaire to win the Democratic nomination -- and with polls showing him third in a three-way race, it's now his fault that Republican Marco Rubio may win?

If you think I'm one of these folks who are upset with James Jones, the Florida father who jumped on his daughter's bus to confront the bullies who were terrorizing her, you've got another think coming.

It's laughable to watch political prognosticators on the various TV shows weigh in on Rahm Emanuel's chances of becoming the next mayor of Chicago, Illinois. If you trust any of them, you swear President Barack Obama's outgoing chief of staff sees the position as a birthright that he is about to assume now that Richard M. Daley is stepping down.

The power of any pastor over his or her parishioners is derived from their "calling" to minister the Gospel from God, or as some call it, the anointing by the Holy Spirit. But the role of a pastor -- the Bible speaks to being a shepherd of a flock -- also comes from the belief that it is their moral standing as the earthly representative of God to lead their congregations spiritually.

Democratic political operatives are excited and filled with enthusiasm over the prospects of running against several Tea Party candidates in November, suggesting the Republican nominees are so extreme and out-of-touch that there is no way they stand a chance of winning in November.

The Republican Party's message for voters backing their candidates in November is pretty simple: This country is broke, the Democrats are making matters worse, and the economic policies advanced by President Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have been disastrous for the average worker.

The beauty of having your own radio or TV show or column is that you have a wonderful opportunity to address many of the significant issues of the day by using the enormous platform that has been bestowed upon you.

Republicans such as Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Kyl and John Cornyn are tripping over themselves to jump on the latest "Dumb Way to Solve the Illegal Immigration Problem" bus by suggesting Congress examine repealing the 14th Amendment, which deals with one way of becoming a U.S. citizen.

Republicans such as Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Kyl and John Cornyn are tripping over themselves to jump on the latest "Dumb Way to Solve the Illegal Immigration Problem" bus by suggesting Congress examine repealing the 14th Amendment, which deals with one way of becoming a U.S. citizen.

While Glenn Beck continues to pathetically assert that he is a modern day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his listeners and viewers are the rightful heirs to the Civil Rights Movement he spearheaded, it may catch some by surprise that Tea Party leaders claim their movement is also one that is about advancing the civil rights of Americans.

LeBron James is a grown man who made a grownup decision to take his massive basketball-playing ability from Cleveland to Miami in a desire to get the one thing every true baller desires: the opportunity to call yourself a champion.

This Fourth of July weekend New Orleans will be packed with nearly 300,000 people, as the National Education Association holds its annual convention, and folks from across the country descend on the Crescent City for three days of partying and concerts featuring Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and Earth, Wind & Fire, all headliners at the 16th annual Essence Music Festival.

Millions of Americans are currently enthralled with the performance of our USA soccer team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as evidenced by the eruption of cheers that went up with when Landon Donovan scored a goal in the final minutes of the match against Algeria.

If you've ever heard a corny joke, it likely was an Aggie joke. These are launched against those of us who hold Texas A&M University (aka the "Aggies") near and dear, usually by fans of our arch-rival, the University of Texas.

A lot of attention this week was focused on female candidates finishing first in Senate and gubernatorial primaries in California, Arkansas, Nevada and South Carolina. Their successes were huge -- involving such feats as fighting back against salacious rumors of affairs and charges of buying an election, fending off a huge battle against big labor and riding the Tea Party Express to victory.

If a white Republican president of the United States appointed a white male as his next Supreme Court justice, and upon the inspection of his record, it was discovered that of the 29 full-time tenured or tenured track faculty he hired as dean of Harvard Law, nearly all of them were white men, this would dominate the headlines.

An angry bunch of Americans has taken to the streets to protest government spending and the direction of the nation, and judging by the massive media coverage, it's as if we have been invaded by a foreign entity, marching on state capitals and Washington ready to lead a coup d'état against our elected officials.

Based on the hundreds of e-mails, Facebook comments and Tweets I've read in response to my denunciation of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's decision to honor Confederates for their involvement in the Civil War -- which was based on the desire to continue slavery -- the one consistent thing that supporters of the proclamation offer up as a defense is that these individuals were fighting for what they believed in and defending their homeland.

As a columnist, I'm used to writing things that offend other folks. It comes with the job. And there are times when I have responded to what other folks in the media will say and write. Again, it's just what we do.

All this month, we will see thousands of college students from coast to coast, north to south, east to west, jumping up and down, yelling, screaming, pumping fists, sleeping outside in tents, painting their faces -- all a result of the usual frenzy surrounding March Madness.

A little over a week ago nearly every media outlet was fixated on Tiger Woods and his apology news conference. We saw pundits, columnists, journalists, radio talk show hosts, psychologists, body language experts, entertainers and anyone with an opinion weigh in on the sincerity of Tiger: Was he really sorry for committing adultery, should he apologize further and hundreds of other angles.